Whitepaper

Merging Legacy Equipment with the Industrial Internet of Things: Three Approaches for Integrated Data

Merging Legacy Equipment with the Industrial Internet of Things: Three Approaches for Integrated Data

By Jeff Bates

Manufacturing equipment is built to last. Legacy equipment—some of which is decades old—is the backbone of today’s factories. But these reliable machines can be a huge road block to creating an interconnected, data-driven Internet of Things (IoT) environment.

Effective IoT integration relies on legacy equipment being able to relay data seamlessly, something that most older tools weren’t built to do—and in some cases, were even specifically designed to prevent. There are three main approaches to overcoming the challenge of merging legacy equipment with the IoT, each with different factors that impact your IoT goals, timeline, plant floor needs and more. Based on industry expert research and experience, this white paper explores the prevailing legacy integration methodologies and how to choose the one that works best for your plant floor.